Don’t you wish cold calling was enjoyable for both you and the other person? The best way to achieve this is to completely remove the pressure of selling.

Whenever prospects feel sales pressure, they almost always respond with defense and resistance. Hidden sales pressure takes many forms. If we can avoid the ways we bring sales pressure to our cold calls, then we can stop triggering “The Wall.”

Here are four hidden sales pressures we bring to our cold calling:

1. Focus on the sale

If you’re like most cold callers, you expect to make a sale—or at least an appointment—before you even pick up the phone. The problem is that the people you call pick up on your way of thinking almost immediately. They feel that you are only focusing on their goals and interests, instead of finding out what they might need or want. This short-circuits the entire process of communication and trust building.

So try this. Practice shifting your mental focus to think, “When I make this call, I’m going to engage in a conversation first. From this, a level of trust can emerge that allows us to exchange information back and forth. And then we can both determine if there is an adjustment or not”. When your focus shifts from making a sale to engaging in a conversation, there’s no sales pressure. Many people enjoy conversations. Also, as long as you’re honest, this will be one of them.

You are also exchanging information instead of “informing” someone of your product or service. This helps your prospect know that he or she is important to you. This means that you are not being experienced as “aggressive”.

Keep in mind that to stop trying to force the outcome of the conversation in a sales event means being totally relaxed with the idea that your solution may not be right for them. When you’re exploring with another person for a “fit,” then that person doesn’t feel sales pressure.

2. Talking about ourselves first

When we start our cold calls with a mini-speech about who we are and what we have to offer, we have immediately introduced sales pressure. The other person knows that we want to make a sale and has to respond to that pressure. Most will respond with defense or rejection.

So instead, start your conversation by focusing on a need or problem that you know the other person is probably facing. Enter their world and invite them to share if they are open to exploring possible solutions with you.

3. Forcing the conversation into a previously planned strategy or script

Here’s one that’s hard to avoid if we’re using carefully planned cold calling strategies or scripts. When we rely on these methods, it’s usually because we just don’t know how to “make” cold calls. However, when we take charge of a conversation in this way, the other person almost always feels that they are being manipulated. That is pressure.

If we don’t allow another person to be fully involved in the conversation, we are using sales pressure to try to control the outcome. Potential customers feel this sales pressure, even when it’s subtle. Thus, once again, “The Wall” goes up.

I am not suggesting that we do not prepare and plan our cold calls. There are some really great ways to start cold calling that you’ll want to use again and again. Also, there are special phrases that we can use that convey well the fact that we are interested in solving a problem for the other person.

However, what we want to avoid is trying to control a cold calling conversation. This almost always happens with scripts and old-fashioned sales strategies. Potential customers feel this pressure and respond negatively.

4. Over-enthusiasm

The problem with being overenthusiastic in our cold calling is that the other person has to make the decision to “buy” our prospect or reject it. They feel the hidden commercial pressure that wants them to succumb to our enthusiasm. This usually means braking, either gently or hard.

With over-enthusiasm (which is often just a consequence of our stress), potential customers feel boxed in. They feel the pressure of our expectations so they feel compelled to respond either positively or negatively. Most will almost always answer in the negative.

Completely removing all sales pressure from your cold calling conversations will certainly invite the other person to respond much more warmly and positively.